Chapter notes: This is part of the interview alluded to in Taproot, Part II, Ch. 4: "Wilted". It is the interview that Liara and Javik agree to give in exchange for al-Jilani dropping assault charges against Shepard.
Chapter 7: Liara & Javik: Interview
DRAFT TRANSCRIPT
"LIVE: Promise of the Protheans: A Westerlund News Exclusive Special"
Air date (EARTH) 2189.07.21 12:00 UTC
[20:00:01]
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: Hello. I'm your host, Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani. Thank you for joining us for our special live broadcast, "Promise of the Protheans". Westerlund News brings you the rare and exclusive story of the universe's last surviving Prothean, and the asari researcher who helped bring him into the 22nd century. Today we will unravel the mysteries of this once proud and ancient civilization, formerly believed to have been the original architects of the Citadel and the mass relays. We'll also hear about their shocking discovery on the planet Mars.
I'd like to start by introducing Dr. Liara T'Soni, renowned researcher and expert on the Prothean civilization. Welcome to the program, Dr. T'soni.
DR. LIARA T'SONI: Yes, thank you having me Ms. Al-Jilani.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: You're quite accomplished for an asari so young. There aren't many other asari in your field either. What inspired you to devote your life to studying the Protheans?
DR. LIARA T'SONI: Oh, I've just always been fascinated with history. Since I was a little girl, really. I'd often pretend to dig up artifacts when playing outside. I suppose it's just what I always wanted to do.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: How lovely. Thank you Dr. T'Soni.
And of course, also joining us today is our special guest of honor. We are most humbled to receive, live in our studio, the last surviving Prothean in existence. Welcome to Westerlund News, Mister…
JAVIK: Javik.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: Do Protheans have a family name? A clan name?
JAVIK: You may call me Javik.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: Alright then, Mr. Javik.
JAVIK: You may call me Javik.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: My apologies. Well then…Javik… let's begin with how it is you came to be with us today? How did a member of a civilization that vanished 50,000 years ago survive the extinction of his entire race?
JAVIK: To avoid confusion, Ms. al-Jilani, I would like your viewers to know that I am not 50,000 years old.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: Oh yes, of course. That would be rather remarkable if you were.
JAVIK: You see, I was once a great warrior, a leader amongst my people. I was born during the war with the Reapers—the Reaper war of my cycle. I knew nothing of peacetime—the Reapers had long taken the Citadel. My very birth was a fight for survival. As soon as I was old enough, I was given over for training and became a warrior.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: Mmhmm, you were a child of war, I see.
JAVIK: As Prothean losses mounted, we devised a plan to put one million of our warriors into stasis on a Prothean colony—what you may now know as 'Eden Prime'—until the the invasion was over. I was to lead these one million warriors to retake the galaxy.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: So you went into stasis on Eden Prime, then? What about your one million warriors?
JAVIK: Just as you humans experienced the effects of indoctrination, Protheans suffered from the same blight. Our loyal soldiers were betrayed by the indoctrinated amongst our ranks. By the time they were discovered it was too late. They had revealed our location to the Reapers. Many thousands of Protheans died on Eden Prime. Some, like myself, made it to their pods before the facility was bombarded by a neutron purge.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: But of all those that went into stasis, you were the only one that survived?
DR. LIARA T'SONI: Javik's stasis pod was the only one found in tact. We do not know what became of the other Protheans, but one can assume that power to the pods was cut as time wore on, prioritizing those in leadership positions. This would be very similar to what happened on the planet of Ilos.
JAVIK: Dr. T'soni is correct. Having been given charge of the soldiers on Eden Prime, my pod would receive priority in the event of an energy shortage. My people had entrusted me with the mandate of 'vengeance'. And that is what I sought when the Reapers returned.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: Dr. T'Soni, wasn't it you and Commander Circe Shepard of the Alliance who recovered Javik on Eden Prime?
DR. LIARA T'SONI: Yes, that's right. The Alliance received word that the colony had been under siege by Cerberus, that they had uncovered a major Prothean artifact.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: Cerberus? You mean the terrorist organization that attacked the Citadel? Who committed atrocities on Horizon? Commander Shepard was previously linked with them, was she not?
DR. LIARA T'SONI: I'm not here to discuss any matters regarding Commander Shepard, Cerberus, or the Alliance.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: No, of course not. I'm just sticking with the facts here. So, your team was sent to retrieve the artifact then? What did you discover?
DR. LIARA T'SONI: There was a dig site. With plenty of Prothean tech. But when we accessed the 'artifact' we were shocked to find it was not in fact an artifact, but an actual Prothean.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: That must have been one hell of a shock.
JAVIK: Shock? Imagine you are waking up 50,000 years later. That is shock enough to rattle every bone in your tiny body.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: Javik, you spoke earlier of the Prothean plan to 'retake the galaxy'. Can you tell me what you mean by that?
JAVIK: The Prothean empire once stretched far and wide across this galaxy. We were a great people, conquering many worlds and assimilating other species. Retaking the galaxy? It is exactly as it sounds. To take back what was once rightfully ours.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: Surely you don't still feel that way, do you Mr. Javik? Not after everything you've seen now?
JAVIK: My name is Javik. And no. One can hardly conquer a galaxy with an army of one.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: But if there were to be other Protheans alive would you still feel the same way?
JAVIK: I do not have an answer you are likely to approve of.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: That's a very roundabout way of saying no, then.
DR. LIARA T'SONI: I think what Javik means to say, Ms. al-Jilani, is that it's useless to think of this hypothetical scenario.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: That's not what I heard.
JAVIK: Dr. T'Soni, she speaks the truth. While she may be naive in some matters, I have never known her to lie. She is an honest person.
DR. LIARA T'SONI: Thank you, Javik.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: While we're on the subject of honesty—there is a recent rumor that the asari government had been keeping an ancient artifact hidden on Thessia, perhaps Prothean in origin. This did not come to light until this week. If true, this would be a grave violation of Council law. What do you know about it?
DR. LIARA T'SONI: I am unaware of this rumor.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: Mr. Javik?
JAVIK: What I know of Thessia only comes from my people's knowledge of the asari.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: Hmm… and what did the Protheans know of the asari? As far as I know, there are no asari records of contact with Protheans.
JAVIK: I will not be sharing any information on this subject today. I will leave that to Dr. T'Soni if she wishes. But if you would like to know more about our shared history, you may purchase a copy of our new book, entitled "Journeys With the Prothean".
DR. LIARA T'SONI: Javik, we haven't finished the first chapter yet…
JAVIK: In my time, we had a saying: "seize the moment—"
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: Oh, we have a very similar saying on Earth! Carpe diem.
JAVIK: No, if you will allow me to finish. The complete phrase is "seize the moment, before your enemy seizes it for you and slits your throat".
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: Ah…well, not quite the same I guess. But I'm sure our viewers look forward to reading your book sometime in the near future.
JAVIK: Yes. I must make a living, after all.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: Of course. Though I don't imagine you've had much downtime since the war. You were both sent to the Mars Archive by the Alliance earlier this year, correct? Can you tell us why?
DR. LIARA T'SONI: The Alliance requested our presence, which we accepted in the name of galactic cooperation. They had come to believe that a second base existed further underground from the original archives.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: And what did they find?
DR. LIARA T'SONI: The Alliance excavated in hopes of finding answers. We found answers.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: Would you care to elaborate?
JAVIK: The Conduit.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: You're talking about the plans for a mass relay? We reported on this when the Alliance made its announcement over six months ago.
DR. LIARA T'SONI: Not for a mass relay as we know it, but a very small, one-way relay. What is not commonly known is that the Conduit allowed the Protheans to travel from Ilos to the Citadel. They had used it in a last attempt to thwart the Reapers, to sever their connection to the Citadel.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: That obviously didn't work very well.
JAVIK: It allowed the primitive races of your cycle more time to develop. They sacrificed themselves for your benefit.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: So this…Conduit…as you call it, works like a mass relay?
DR. LIARA T'SONI: Yes, that's right. But in the original plans, it could only hold as much as a small or medium sized vehicle. Certainly no space craft.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: How did the plans for the Conduit end up on Mars? I thought Mars was just an Earth research station?
JAVIK: My people were conservators of information. When one's empire spans the galaxy, one must keep many records. One must know the goings-on of every world, of every being. This includes all science and research. Information was most valuable during the war. And through our vast communications systems, we were able to disseminate and store large volumes of data throughout the empire.
DR. LIARA T'SONI: You have to remember that the Conduit was an act of desperation. There were probably no other Protheans left in the galaxy when they finally succeeded. And if you recall, the plans for the Crucible were also found in the Mars Archive. It is not hard to understand why the Prothean scientists on Ilos might send their plans to any secure research station they could reach.
KHALISAH AL-JILANI, HOST: Wow, absolutely fascinating stuff. Ancient plans for a one-way relay. You're hearing it live right here, everyone, on Westerlund News. I'm Khalisah Bint Sinan al-Jilani, and you're watching "Promise of the Protheans, A Westerlund News Exclusive Special". When we return from our break, we'll hear more about Javik and Dr. T'Soni's findings on Mars, and we'll get up close and personal with the last Prothean. What do Protheans eat? What are Protheans females like? Do Protheans use all four eyes? Who has become the most evolved species in the last 50,000 years? And please, if you have any questions, now is the time to send them in. This and more when we come back from the break.
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